Around 1,000 men and their illegal multiple wives are thought to be claiming welfare benefits.

The polygamous families could be costing the taxpayer millions of pounds a year by pocketing everything from dole cash to housing costs.

But the Government has said it will not stop the controversial payments until 2013, when it will officially no longer accept group marriages for welfare handouts.

Polygamy is not recognised in Britain but was allowed within the benefits system under the former Labour administration.

Tory MP Philip Hollobone blasted: “I can’t see why we have to wait until 2013 to stop this scandal. Daily Mirror readers will be surprised to find out polygamous marriage, which is illegal, is represented in the benefits system.”

Tory MP Priti Patel added: “This is yet another example of how our system is being abused and this will appal all hard-pressed taxpayers.”

Immigration minister Chris Grayling admitted that he had no idea how many polygamous families are on welfare.

He said they are allowed to claim handouts including income support, housing benefit and child support.

A man and his “first wife” can jointly claim £105.95 in dole payments, made up of a £67.50 single person payout and a couple’s top-up of £38.45. “Subsequent” wives are only entitled to the £38.45 top-up. Mr Grayling added that housing benefit and council tax benefit was “limited to those living in one property”.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said: “This outdated legislation is in the process of being changed.”

Polygamy is practised by some Muslims and Mormons, and is common in Africa.

Share This

We welcome comments that add information or perspective, and we encourage polite debate. If you log in with a social media account, your comment should appear immediately. If you prefer to remain anonymous, you may comment as a guest, using a name and an e-mail address of convenience. Your comment will be moderated.

Anonymous

It’s not so much the 4 wives, it’s the 5 kids per wife.

English goverment housing mandates ony 2 children of the same sex in each bedroom. So they get 8 bedroom mansions while the taxpayers who support them have 1 child in tiny 900 sq feet 2 bedroom condos.

Dutchman

“Polygamy is practised by some Muslims and Mormons, and is common in Africa.”

Oh Please! Can we get anymore PC? Almost no LDS members practice polygamy in 2011 and have not for decades. On the other hand, huge numbers of Muslims practice polygamy in several countries all over the planet. I know I should not advocate violence, but sometimes you just want to give the ‘journalist’ a knuckle-sandwhich for including such a misleading statement.

I also don’t recall any LDS break-away polygamists taking advantage of our public assistance system in the USA in the way that Muslims cheat the tax-payer in Britain. Some family values!

Question Diversity

2 Dutchman wrote:

I also don’t recall any LDS break-away polygamists taking advantage of our public assistance system in the USA in the way that Muslims cheat the tax-payer in Britain.

counterpart to modern monogamy? In a society that has steadily become more and more averse to biological fitness, lots of biologically-sound instincts often appear , if at all, in crippled and twisted forms that invite myopic condemnation. Chris Brand, the British psychologist (see wikipedia ) tried in the 90’s (see the AR review of his book ) to advance regard in the media to polygamous (plural marriage ) options to mitigate our current catastrophe. Artificial insemination (“sperm banks”) offer a degree of sidestep to dysgenic monogamy, but

do not cater to other than married persons in monogamous relationships. As to what is going on under surface appearances in Utah–well, it’s a little gratuitous to “know” plural procreant arrangements are rare when they’d have to have layers of “disguise” to survive.

Krystal

We tax our own people through the roof to support the life styles of foreigners who for the most part hate us.

Erik

Having lived in rural Utah most of my life I can say with 100% certainty that LDS families do this as well; but that is irrelevant: the problem is the fact that immigrants (with a brutal, insane and anti-western culture, to boot) are taking money from native Britons so that they can breed more and maintain their incompatible culture and religion.

The saddest part, but the most important part to remember, is that, with welfare, they aren’t actually taking money from native Britons, they’re being given the money.

Dutchman

So the few polygamous sects of Mormons are also benefit dependents. But what percentage of benefit dependents in the USA are Mormons? Certainly nowhere near statistically significant numbers. In Europe and the British Isles the number of foreign benefit dependents are what percentage?

Anonymous

Stories abound of people who wont work and live in million dollar mansions in Britain. In the USA its almost as bad but nowhere near as lavish with the section 8 housing horror designed to destroy white communities.

I say… Every American over 21 receives 10,000 dollars. PERIOD. That is it. And its equal to every one. If you are not working, you and your spouse get 20 grand to raise your children. If you are a single mom of 20, you get 10 grand. That is it. Period. No other welfare programs. Its fair. As I chose to work, I will invest the money or use it for a car to get to work or to pay off the house (or to pay down my taxes)

The big PROBLEM right now is that these black women who have 5 children (or 15 as a recent article showed) expect mansions. NO. You get a studio apartment in a hell hole. Being poor shouldn’t be luxurious it should SUCK that way no one will want to be poor!

Anonymous

An obvious problem in this topic is that polygamy where it is

formally outlawed (today’s Utah,e.g. ) exposes itself usually by

those who are least mentally capable and least able to assume the

large burdens of a productive plural marriage. And don’t rely

on the PC MSM to give any honest report about successful plural

marriages and family life–if such instances do come to light.

Jack in Chicago

2 — Dutchman wrote at 7:59 PM on December 15:

“Polygamy is practiced by some Muslims and Mormons, and is common in Africa.”

“Oh Please! Can we get anymore PC? Almost no LDS members practice polygamy in 2011 and have not for decades. On the other hand, huge numbers of Muslims practice polygamy in several countries all over the planet.”

Jack replies:

Yes, I also noticed this ridiculous comment/slur against White Latter Day Saints. But, I am thankful that this news story was reported in a mainstream Brit paper. It seems there is more freedom of speech in the mainstream media in Britain than in the United States where we have been chased to the internet.

People should get accustomed to some throw away lines criticizing some group of Whites when a MSM story strongly criticizes Muslim and African immigrants. This goes under the column of “We’re not RACISTS – see we criticize Whites who do the same negative things”.

Anonymous

ref. 10

I’m not sure “who knows what goes” with plural marriage (polygamy ) in Utah these days since it is illegal and a bunch of trouble can befall those convicted of it–even those reasonably suspected of it. The institution of monogamy is

clearly against the grain to an evolved biological orientation of men to have more than one woman and of women being loyal to, and thus trading off for protection from, a specific man. Again, that something suffering layers of legal repression now and then breaks into awareness in the form of loony practice tells us more about the effects of repression than of polygamy.